A customer or consumer's credit score, i.e., the FICO credit score, is a number representing the creditworthiness of a person, i.e., the likelihood that person will pay his or her debts and may be used, inter alia, in determining the consumer's qualification for a loan or credit card.
In some instances, a consumer may apply for a credit card at a retail store. Generally, the credit card is issued by a third party bank. The consumer may fill out a credit card application that may include information to identify the consumer, e.g., name, address, and social security number, as well as bank account information and/or employment and income information. The credit information may be transmitted to the 3rd party bank. Based on the application, the bank may request the consumer's credit score from a credit-reporting agency. Based on the consumer's credit score, the bank may decide to issue or deny the credit card. If the bank decides to issue the credit card, the credit score may be further used to establish the limit on the credit card.
However, for one or more reasons, a customer of an online or brick and mortar retail store may not have an established credit history from which a traditional credit score may be available or determined. Thus, if the customer were to desire to, and apply for a credit card, at the retail store, the credit card application may be denied. It is sometimes desirable to the retail store that the customer be issued a credit card, to retain the customer, to allow the customer to make purchases at the retail store and/or build customer loyalty.
The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems identified above.